I wish I remembered more about my first day as a Community Manager. That wasn't my title. I also can't really remember my title but it was a nonsense mishmash of words that had more to do with THQ's internal staffing hierarchy than what I was actually hired to do. Online Community Specialist is what I have written down, so I'll have to go with that.

It was a rare sunny day in Vancouver and the studio's current CM took me out for lunch and we sat on a patio on Vancouver's Seawall and drank beers and talked about what I was going to be doing. Coming from a decade of jobs where a leisurely beer in the sun on a workday was not something that would have flown, I felt at home. The games industry, I decided then, was where I belonged.

Though I can't remember what advise the studio's CM gave me that day, we worked together for nearly two years and I've now been a Community Manager for nearly eight. Between his advice and the things that I've learned here are five things I wish I'd heard on that first day.

It's not about you: This may be different for Community Managers that work externally from a development team, located in some far flung head office working on any number of titles on a given day, but for those who are embedded in the studio it's easy to get a version of Stockholm syndrome and start to feel like you're part of the development team. Like you've made the game! This is actually good, but it means that harsh feedback and online hate is going to affect you more. This is the work of your friends that people are insulting... scratch that this is your work!

More than that as the visible face of the game, whether that's on forums, Twitch or in interviews, you may become the one that gets the brunt of the hate. As nonsensical as it is, fans may start to blame you for a game's issues. That's part of the job. I've always described myself as the studio Tank, I go out and absorb the damage (insults) and let the rest of the team get on with the real work. This can suck. Oh, trust me, I know.

What you need to remember is that this isn't about you. If you weren't there being (virtually) yelled at, it would be someone else. As great an impact as we as Community Managers can have on a game's development usually it's beyond us to fix (or prevent) the things people are mad at.

Similarly during the good times when people are toasting you and cozying up to you for access, information or game codes, remember that all the love you're getting is the result of the development team's hard work.

Under promise and over deliver: One of may favourite things that I found when I went to work at Electronic Arts was that they have (or had at the time) a very specific policy about not talking about future developments for their released games. Their view was that they didn't want anyone to buy a game because of a promise they made about a coming update, and then not deliver that update. Other places that I've worked there has been very much a belief that announcing that you're going to do something was as good as doing it. The fact is with game development things change so much between the conception of an idea, even for a patch or a game update, and the release that promising things can win you some temporary love but not delivering on them will earn you way more hate.

So if your development team is thinking about fixing an issue, releasing some content or doing something to make the fans happy be sure that they're actually doing it before announcing it. If you can have solid dates on when they expect that to happen that's even better. (But don't give those dates out - which will be point #3).

Nothing ever happens on time: When the Company of Heroes servers would go offline for scheduled service I would add at least 25% to the length of time the development team gave me when I communicated that out to the players. Often more. If the devs say it's going to take an hour count on it taking two. If they give you a date that something is going to be ready for release make sure you've double and triple checked that before announcing it. Again as I said always try to under promise and over deliver.

Never lie to the fans: This has been touched on a bit in other points, but essentially your personal reputation is your currency in this industry. It's worth more to you in the long run than any one job. During the course of your work you may give out incorrect information to fans, either because you made a mistake or things changed on a project that couldn't be foreseen. But never knowingly lie to players, even if you think you'll get away with it and it seems like the easy way out.

Now look that doesn't mean you're going to work as if you've been given a syringe full of truth serum. You can dodge questions, not answer others and play coy. Certain stock phrases will come in handy like "That's not something we're talking about yet" and "We haven't announced anything on that subject". Find your own ways of dancing around subjects, and while some fans may get annoyed most will realize that you just can't say anything.

Don't throw the devs under the bus: When you're getting yelled at online, and someone's started a Change.org petition to have you fired (or sending threatening emails about murdering you kids) it might be easy to point a finger at the people really behind that nasty bug or balance change that's got everyone up in arms. It seems like it would be so easy.

"Hey, I told them that the fans want X change and they just aren't listening to me!"

The moment you do that you're done. You're value as a Community Manager is spent and even if what you said is 100% true (it's likely not as nothing is quite that simple in game development), you've shown the fans that you have no pull with the developers and you've shown the development team (your co-workers) that you can't be trusted. You may not be fired on the spot, but you're effectively made yourself useless.

(Bonus) Be kind to everyone: In the game industry being a good person and a nice person will get you further than you think. There are some assholes in the industry but not many of them succeed. Oh, some do. Sure. But you'll find that you'll get more job opportunities and make it further in your career if you're easy to work with and a supportive co-worker. As highly as I value the job of Community Manager we're not acclaimed like a game designer and few people are going to put up with a highly skilled but unpleasant CM.

There is so much to impart. We haven't touched on most of what the job actually is, but these are things that I'd have found useful on my first day and still use on a daily basis. A lot about being a Community Manager is constantly shifting and changing. A lot changes as I move from job to job. These five (secretly six) things will always be useful.

Thanks for reading! I hope to do more of these in the future.

----

Jeffery Simpson is a Community Manager for Capcom. Previously he was worked for THQ, Relic Entertainment, SEGA and Electronic Arts. He has been a Community Manager since 2010. His mother still does not understand what it is he does.

In partnership with GDC, the IGDA Community Management SIG is pleased to announce the GDC 2017 IGDA Community Management SIG Roundtable meetup! This year's roundtable will have an official IGDA designated space to discuss the SIG and community management related topics.

The roundtable is open to all community leaders in the industry. There will be roundtable chosen topics after initial introductions, an overview of what the SIG is about, and updates on its current status and plans in 2017. We're going to have some fun discussing key topics many of you have brought up in the past year!

PART 1:
- Warm up exercises... bring you pens and paper with you! (just kidding, we will provide :))

PART 2:
- Brief overview of the IGDA CM SIG and current plans
- Speed round topics selected by roundtable hat draw (come ready with topics related to the SIG and Community Management!)

Please let the SIG Chair, Mathew Anderson, know if you have any questions on attendance. You can also find out more information about the location on GDC's website.

Community management is a role that demands 24/7 attention toward the community, especially during the holidays when they are most likely playing your game. What do you do when everyone else is out of the office and you are alone to patrol the player gauntlet?

The reality of the holidays is that they can be as much work for you as normal office hours, at least if you are not prepared remotely. You might be on a team that has no resources to hire either internal or contracted moderators from services like Metaverse Mod Squad. Here are some quick tips and resources for keeping the community in line, and your sanity in check.

Don't Leave Home Without It

The best way to mitigate potential issues and put your mind at ease is to ensure you know who to call, and what tools you need when issues arise. Have these following tools at the ready (keep in mind your company's policy for sensitive hardware and software):

Contact list of the following individuals:

Your direct manager

Everyone on your team

Other department leads, especially CS, IT, and PR

International and other location office main numbers

Sync with customer service on what you need them to be aware of (known unruly players, reoccurring spam attacks, planned server down times)

Status of in-progress builds (game, website, and all other active resources)

Recent and upcoming build notes

General software you can install on a home computer (your company may provide all full-time remote workers with a computer here)

Your Community Eyes & Ears

Find those reliable community members that can keep you updated when you are busy opening presents. Get them together on a central chat server such as Discord or Skype. This will allow them to discuss potential concerns and instantly communicate them to you.

Especially if your community is large enough, see if there's someone interested to help lead monitoring (but not necessarily moderate) in each of these areas:

In-game chat and general game server status monitoring

External chats, including store sourced hubs like Steam

If an open world game, general in-game wanderers

Official website and discussion forums

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter

Other networks like Reddit, Digg, Instagram, etc.

Preparing For The Worst

Here's a list of scenarios that may happen during the holidays. I've listed them from absolutely going to happen, all the way down to the very unlikely but definitely not impossible.

Consider each of these and who you are going to call if something needs to be dealt with that is beyond the toolset that you have. Make a list, check it twice, then find out who's naughty or nice...

Player concerns and questions about their game account

Positive praise of some kind (an immediate response may not be needed, but don't neglect upstanding community members upon returning to the office!)

Unruly players needing a suspension/ban

Spam on all social platforms and in the forums

Game wide performance issues

Game/server crash

Website/registration crash

Leak of unreleased content

A dev account was hacked, or someone is impersonating them

Someone in the company or on your team spills the beans on an unreleased item, or worse, starts an argument with the community on balance or other concerns.

The last item should be impossible, but unfortunately it can happen. Before you leave for the holidays, be sure to fully brief everyone that has posting privileges so they understand what to say, and what NOT to say, to the community! Remind other departments as well of the general policy.

Data Driven Monitoring Tools

Aside from boots on the ground, there are also tools that can help automatically alert you to problems. Subscribing to the following will cover most areas:

Internal software: In-game, forums, and any official game blogs

Social networks: Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook as primaries

Website analytics: Hootsuite, SproutSocial, and Ninja Metrics

If something goes wrong or needs your immediate attention, you will find out on one of these platforms or through your community, even if the issue occurs elsewhere. If time permits though, due check every key area of your community... just in case.

Mobile Is Your Friend

Nearly every tool that you use on your main office computer has a wonderful app you can quickly download to your phone. Both Android and iPhone versions are likely going to be available for:

Google suite (Docs, Sheets, Calendar, etc.)

Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine

Team Tools: Basecamp, Confluence, JIRA, Trello

Analytics: Google, Hootsuite, Salesforce, SproutSocial, Topsy, and all social networks

Don't Neglect Dessert!

"I think the line is a lot more fuzzy than it used to be in terms of tools/access. As such, CMs find it harder or are not expected to actually “disengage”, which is healthy for them and their community once in a while." - Nova Barlow, Community Manager

Community can certainly have their cake and eat it too, so know when to take a break. You need time to decompress from the past year's craziness. Community management is stressful enough on a normal day, so take time and enjoy family festivities during the holidays!

To follow more of Mathew's ramblings, visit his website or follow him on Twitter @mathewanderson.

Many of us come from a Customer Service background and quite a few of us have had Community Manager (CM) roles that have significant overlap with CS tasks. However, to successfully show the value of the position we need to show that it can stand on its own as a contributing position within the industry.

Let's start by identifying the primary difference:

Customer Service is REACTIVE - CS professionals are primarily tasked with dealing with a customer after they have a problem. It's their job to make sure the player is happy with the speed and efficacy of the solutions provided for his or her unique issue.

Community Management is PROACTIVE - CMs keep an eye on overall trends in subject matter and collect anecdotal evidence to identify potential problems before the players need to send in a ticket. They are there to act as a social barometer and measure and manage the overall perception, thus helping the rest of the team solve the problems with more expedience.

Since the CM role is young compared to customer service the job description is naturally going to be more nebulous. As a result, a community manager is often asked to wear many different hats. I want you to try a little exercise to help drive home this point.

Open up two new tabs in your browser.

In the first one, do a google search for "Customer Service job descriptions." Open a few of the listings and samples provided. You'll find that for the most part, the expectations are the same regardless of the industry. The specific tasks may be different, but the general measure of value is how good you are at answering questions about the product and resolving complaints from the customer.

Now in the second tab, do a search for "Community Manager job descriptions." First, note that you got a much shorter list of results and most of them are probably articles and opinion pieces rather than actual job descriptions. Still, open a few links and take a look. You'll see anything from "generate engaging content on the forums and social media" to "advising management about community trends and metrics" and even "planning and hosting events for our fans." However, while some postings might include a reference to customer service responsibilities, it's rarely the only set of tasks you'll be expected to manage.

So why is it a problem if the CS and CM roles overlap? Really, it comes down to the company's business needs. The company leaders need to decide if it's better to have two jobs done half as well by one person, or have two people doing great jobs individually. Oftentimes where there is a merge of responsibility, the position that's harder to measure is given less priority. That leads in to another key issue - how do we measure the value of a CM objectively? Here are some examples:

How many new users are coming in. (Signups/Growth)

How long are these users are staying around. (Retention)

How many of them are spending money. (Conversions/Revenue)

How many are joining the discussions vs. how many are lurking. (Engagement)

How many likes/follows you have on social media. (Outreach/Marketing)

However, it's hard to measure the exact impact of the CM's actions on these metrics. Maybe the boost in RNU came from a big marketing push? That spike in retention could have been thanks to the designers creating a new game mode. And that extra revenue could have been thanks to the product manager designing an awesome promotion!

In stark contrast to the CM, a CS rep has plenty of hard numbers to measure their individual and team-based performance. These numbers look pretty on a graph and can be tracked easily on a timeline.

The number of complaints (tickets) resolved in a given time period.

How long the response and resolution time was for the user.

How high the customer rated the service via surveys or other tracking methods.

In an ideal setting, a CM would be measured not by the quantity but rather by the quality of their work. Artists aren't kept on if they hit the deadline for an asset push but everything looks like a painted-up stick figure. Programmers aren't given a pat on the back if they bang out a ton of code but it's full of game-breaking bugs. So why should a CM be graded simply on how many Facebook posts they make?

This is where the technical expertise and skillsets really branch off between CS and CM. CMs need to be able to create original, engaging content on a regular basis to keep thousands, sometimes millions of players informed and hyped for new game features. They need to be able to read through a forum and pick out the actionable feedback among the hundreds of QQ and troll threads. They need to know how to present the information in a positive and persuasive way to help the team achieve their goals.

These qualities are not required in a customer service professional and yet many companies continue to have unrealistic expectations. This usually leads to A) burnout from excessive workload or B) lost potential and lack of a good fit in the organization. This isn't just a one way street for the CS rep, either. There are a ton of Community Managers out there who are awesome at dealing with angry mobs of forumgoers but don't have the patience to help hundreds of individual upset players. This leads to lower customer satisfaction and lost revenue and even more wasted resources in the organization.

So how do we fix it? Obviously, it's an ongoing process. It starts with every current and aspiring CM having a solid understanding of the value they add to the industry. Once we're all on the same (or similar) pages, then we can go to our bosses and show them our collected research and analyses. There's some great work being done by organizations and individuals all over the world, but it's on us to take this research and apply it.

Do you think CM and CS teams should share responsibilities? If so, how much and why? Share your thoughts in the comments below and let's learn from each other.

Over the last few years we have seen a renaissance in online community roles with their inception in the game industry at the birth of the Internet. The field has been building ever since into a truly recognized profession. Today, we are seeing an explosion in the need for entire community teams, and this isn't just for large scale MMORPGs. Having a face to the company is needed in today's world for any game that has an online presence.

A letter of encouragement to future community leaders...

Are you hoping to make a profession out of the passion you have to bring together a game's community, or build further your career that is already established? I have good news for you then! I've been talking with a lot of new community leaders that are seeking advice on how to get started, or what to watch out for when jumping into the field. I thought it time to write some of my thoughts down on the subject. I hope others will chime in to share their perspectives as well.

To ensure I'm not leaving out any related roles, such as social media strategists, e-sports managers, forum moderators, community managers, and all the other titles involving the community, I will lump these under a single term for the sake of this article – community relations. Another article will be needed to better define what these other roles are about, and how they relate to each other. Since I am a community manager, I will of course be using my perspective for these points.

Achieving a successful career path in community relations is as enjoyable, and also challenging, of any game industry role one can undertake. Most of the time it's a rewarding adventure that makes you feel like you're truly building that dream job. Even when it gets 'interesting', the proverbial coffee tap fed through an intravenous line is usually no more than an arms reach away. You learn new things and meet new people all the time, which helps in bringing fresh ideas to the table for building community content.

Get excited, as this is just the beginning...

Do I sound excited? I am! You should be too, and here is why.

Community teams get to interact with both the players and the developers. You are the conduct of communication for these groups. You get the chance to learn from the developers about upcoming content that the community hasn't seen yet. Once the community reads all about it, they will get excited and share it on fan sites and other portals dedicated to your game. The developers love seeing this activity, and take notice of those community members that produce it.

Dishing out the good news is of course the exciting part of being a cheerleader of sorts for the company. You will also come across many instances of issues and concerns the community brings up that make you think carefully about how to respond or take action. Should that dampen your excitement at looking into this career? Not one bit... it's worth the effort. Have a thick skin and don't take things personally. Keep that in mind and you're already tempering half of the concerns you'll likely come across.

While you should get excited that community relations is a solid career option, know that its expectatons and potential are different from QA, Customer Support, and other related fields you may consider. It's as important of a role as any other, but it isn't always as easy to jump in on an entry level basis. When you do find your footing though, it will open up a great expanse of potential for you to explore higher level roles, such as moving on to production or senior level options.

You may already have an idea on which school to get a degree at, which social networks and blog tools to use to show that you can type as well as you speak, and which company will offer the most immediate benefit and prestige with an entry level position. I bet some of you even have everything listed in a notebook and ready to implement or build upon as soon as you finish reading this post.

Get excited and have those notes ready, but first and most importantly, have you considered... you?

Being a community leader is not just about other people...

What matters more than all of the things you can write down on your resume is who you are and how you manage yourself. Over my career, I've seen great community managers rise and fall on the drop of a mouse click because their expectations conflicted with the type of role they commanded. I've also seen community managers fit with their team and community like peanut butter and jelly because they had a great personality, knew what to expect, and had a proactive focus on the job at hand.

A bit of a disclaimer is in order here before I rattle on further. I'm not a psychologist and shouldn't be offering advice on what will work best at home and outside industry influences to shore up one's 'self'. I'll just plant the above thought of focusing on this important aspect.

Now we can move on to the juicy career related details I can talk about in confidence.

Don't be afraid to sparkle...

Why can it be a challenge to get a community related career started? Partly because we are unable to present our work as upfront as you can with many other fields. Take artists for example. If you are a budding artist, with a little luck it can sometimes take just that handful of masterful concept pieces to get you in the door. This is similar to a programmer with great code, a designer with a playable map, a writer with readily available stories, or any other tangible asset. Displaying amazing visuals goes a long way in the impressions department.

These entrancing visuals also ties into the self in other roles like community relations. Personality, intelligence, proactiveness, and all that other good stuff is extremely important to a company hiring you. The difference with these other roles though is that it's not as often tied as closely to the public and a game's player base. I'm emphasizing being a nice yet strong willed person because it really is part of your job to be a leading face of the company in the eyes of the community.

Your work (and success) is in working with people that won't have room to be featured on a resume that a headhunter can easily call to learn more about you. Regarding what to list on your resume then, don't just slap down a bunch of references, games you've played, forums you've posted in, and proudly proclaim that you're a community manager because you've learned how to press the big red ban button. It's not that simple, but it most definitely can be done. Experience takes time and will come from a few different angles. Just keep in mind that all angles lead back to you as a person.

Baby steps... try these three first:

There are three approaches that stand out to me as straightforward and worthwhile options, though there are many others that may work perfectly well for you:

1: Volunteer to write for news outlets. You can also become a moderator in the outlet's forums or chat rooms. The idea here is to get your face visible to any game communities that you can. You have to show that you are capable of working with other people, especially online gamer crowds. Share and blog about content released by your favorite product/game in these communities to add a little bit of power to your presence. Working with other communities is a good step in eventually building your own.

2: Start a fansite or become a gameplay streamer by starting a channel on sites like Twitch, UStream, or YouTube. This latter possibility may be easier to setup, and is becoming a hotbed of interest in e-sports communities. Simply get noticed by the developers for talking about the game. This can work out better than you might at first expect. At every company I've worked at, we tried our best to take notice of the more vocal community members that made an effort to build the community for others. They get noticed, even if it takes time for them to realize it. You can get noticed too, especially in indie game communities that are just getting started.

3: Get to know people in the industry. Schmooze. I attend conferences and other networking events as much as possible, even if it's expensive to get there. Consider yourself lucky to be in a city with events going on year-round. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, and Austin are the top five in the U.S. game industry. Sometimes it's as simple as being a nice person and landing in the right place with the right person whom happens to be looking for a community manager.

In this last example, have your business card ready! Ask for theirs discreetly by presenting yours. If you are lucky enough to meet a prominent developer, play it cool and don't present your business card until the moment feels right. This is either after an initial conversation has concluded when it's just you and them, or if it's part of a group discussion you walked into. In the latter case, present a card after someone else offers up theirs. There are almost certainly others in the group ready to do so.

Your Swiss army knife of skills and tools...

With all of that said, I know you still want to know what tools, resources, and tangible abilities you need as a face to the company. Here is a brief list of what I think is essential to know. While this list comes from my more recent experience in the game industry. Many others industries share similar points, should you wish to focus on an industry closer to home.

Knowledge of and experience in using:

The product the community you expect to manage is using (duh!).

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and all those other social networks.

Website forum and news software from Wordpress, xenForo, Invision Power Boards, or vBulletin.

Basic HTML/CSS for website updates and crafting of news announcements and sending out campaigns through services like MailChimp and ConstantContact.

Photoshop and other basic image editing programs to add that little extra spice to a social network post you thought up that very morning.

Ability to:

Communicate effectively! Especially online when you're interacting with the community, or amongst others at the office and during industry events.

Encourage others to become involved in the community... be a people person!

Moderate the moderators, which includes both paid and volunteer.

Develop regular community activities, such as contests that drive retention and growth (this may be shared with marketing if you have a larger team).

Take flak for when there is a problem. You are the community's outlet, so have a thick skin and pause before responding and taking a comment personally.

Work in tandem with the developer and community to keep everyone on the same page for community expectations. You are not only a face of the company in the eyes of the community, but one at the office as well.

Have just as thick of a skin when needing to lay down solid rules and guidelines that all (including your team) must abide by.

Say 'No' to the community in a positive way without lying or being deceitful. Also, don't let a concern by the community go without a response for too long!

Obviously there is a lot to learn about if you're just getting started. Don't expect you have to know all of them out of the gate. Some companies won't need a particular tool or service. Try these out first if your team doesn't have a solution at hand. If they don't work for your situation, there are always alternatives to consider!

If I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't. I love being a community manager so much, that I spent my afternoon writing this article about it. I really hope you will stand up and help our small segment of the industry to reach new heights. As I've said before, you will be noticed, and needed!